I want to Ride My Bicycle (with Don)

Thanks to this blog, I know five years ago Don fulfilled a dream and bought a tandem bicycle. This is a great way for me to keep track of when things happened in our lives.

Labor Day weekend was fairly quiet for us. Ashley is back at school for her junior year. Yoran has returned to Belgium. I don't work on Fridays. Don's office told them to go home at noon. After a couple of false starts, we put the tandem in his car and drove to the Gov. Mario Cuomo Bridge, often still referred to by it's former name: the Tappan Zee Bridge.

The drive up felt as if we encountered every driver leaving work early on a holiday weekend excited about enjoying the finally perfect summer weather, which is ironic because we thought by going to Tarrytown, NY we would avoid that kind of traffic -- after all we were going nowhere near the Jersey Shore. I suppose there are other places to vacation.

Don steers. I sit in the back. I do pedal. I am also in charge of the bell to alertpeople we are about the pass them. With this ride, I also enjoyed taking pictures. The new bridge is stunning. It added a wide 3.6 mile bike / pedestrian lane (3.1 miles over water, the rest over land). Based on how much car traffic we encountered, we expected to have a lot of sightseers on the bridge, too. We did see a couple of Orthodox Jewish families riding their bicycles, but mostly we saw individuals going for a training run / ride. 

After crossing the Hudson River we locked up the tandem and walked around Tarrytown, also known as Sleepy Hollow. The gift shops had plenty of merchandise with "I lost my head at Sleepy Hollow," but mostly it is a charming town with a walkable Main Street and a vibrant community. I went in a few thrift stores (mindful that any purchases would have to go on me).

After a lovely dinner we decided we wanted the return trip to be as the sun was setting. With a 3.6 mile distance (plus another mile from where we parked the tandem to where the bridge starts) it wasn't going to be a long ride, plus the well-lit bridge is open daily until 10 pm, but I still didn't want to do it in the dark.

The sun set behind the mountains behind where we parked our car. It was a pretty ride back.

A couple of days later we took the tandem out again, this time closer to home. We parked at Washington Crossing State Park (NJ) and rode the tandem to the Scudders Falls Bridge to Washington Crossing State Park (PA) and back again. It is a 7 mile circuit, but since we did not cross the bridge, it was a 12 mile route. 

Earlier this year, after much anticipation in the cycling community, the new Scudders Falls Bridge opened with a bike / pedestrian lane. It also added a toll for drivers using I-95 to cross into Pennsylvania (there are no tolls to enter New Jersey using any of the bridges or tunnels, there seems to be a subliminal message). There was talk of adding a toll for people to ride their bicycles or walk across the bridge. I wonder how they would have handled the fare for a tandem or for someone with a bike trailer. Fortunately they opted out of charging a toll.

Again, I took pictures while Don steered. This time I added in selfies. Due to the lack of rain, and an attempt to redirect some of the water, the canal was very dry. I was surprised to see an egret and some turtles. As with the other ride, we did not see a lot of activity even though the weather was perfect. It was ours to enjoy at our own pace.

The NJ side

Crossing into PA

The path is red on the PA side

Must duck beneath some of the bridges. Don suggested a murder mystery plot where the person in the front does not warn the person in the back and they smack their head on the underpass. Hmm.. he might have an idea here.

Back to the Scudders Falls Bridge

Pretty day for cycling

I should note when Don does this ride he starts from home, but I'm not up for that much cycling. I think I need a better seat as that is the part that hurts me the most after (and during) a ride.